Women's Tennis Falls to Duke in ACC QuarterfinalsCavaliers fall to 13-9 on the season

CARY, N.C. – The No. 27 Virginia women’s tennis team suffered a 4-0 loss to No. 3 Duke Friday in an ACC quarterfinal matchup at the Cary Tennis Park. The Cavaliers fall to 13-9 overall with the loss.

“The biggest thing is we need to become that team that is seeded higher and ranked higher in the big picture,” said Virginia head coach Mark Guilbeau. “At the same time, these steps are hard. When you are making progress, it is real. If we can keep moving forward from this point, eventually we will get there. These kids are very committed and I think they can get this program to the level where we are in this tournament longer in the future.”

The Blue Devils took an early 1-0 lead by winning all three doubles matches. They then clinched the match with straight set wins at No. 5, No. 2 and No. 6. At No. 1, Emily Fraser (Rye, N.Y.) had split sets with No. 16 Mallory Cecil and at No. 4, Lindsey Hardenbergh (Fairfax Station, Va.) had split sets with No. 74 Amanda Granson.

“I thought we had some great efforts today,” said Guilbeau. “Emily played great and the fact that she was six or seven points away from beating a top-20 player like Cecil is impressive. Lindsey did a good job of fighting back to win the second set after dropping the first. Even the matches we lost, there were a lot of close sets. We just need to learn how pull out more of those close sets.”

The Cavaliers will await their NCAA bid in two weeks. The field of 64 will be announced on April 28. No. 3 Duke 4, No. 27 Virginia 0